“I know,” Ray said.

“I’m happy he did it, but I wish we would have known sooner. Wait, you know...”

“Yeah, I know,” she admitted. “Sooner when? Like before you sold the house?”

“Yeah,” I agreed, more confused than ever. “But oh well, I guess things happen for a reason. I mean, I can’t believe my dad got such a great offer on the store when it was failing so miserably. Whether they only paid him to close or not it seems odd that a company would pay so much money for a failing business.”

“It is odd, because it never happened.”

“Huh?”

Ray rocked back on her feet. My dad came out of the house and I officially introduced him to Ray. “Mr. Capulet, Dre was just telling me about the sale of your business, congratulations. Tell me, do you remember the name of the company that bought your store?” she asked, chewing on her lip.

My dad looked up and twisted his lips. “Let me think. Oh yeah, now I remember. Bow Tied Books.” He pointed to Preppy. “Fitting isn’t it?” he asked, not making the same connection I had.

I spit out my beer and Ray chuckled.

“You okay?” my dad asked.

“Yeah, this beer is skunked. That’s all.”

One of the GG’s came over to introduce themselves to my dad. “Told you so,” Ray sang in my ear. “And here, these belong to you,” she said, tossing me a set of keys that I recognized them instantly by Mirna’s green lucky rabbit foot keychain. “I already signed it back over to both you and Preppy.”

“How?” I asked.

Ray shrugged. “It’s a long story.”

“I’ll pay you back. I’ll...”

“No,” Ray said, closing my hand around the keys. “This is what family does.” She looked over to Preppy who now had Bo on his back and were chasing King and Sammy while Max shrieked around them, hiding behind Bear’s legs. “And like it or not, you’re family now.” And with that Ray sauntered over to King and stood on her tip-toes, planting a small kiss on his mouth. He returned her kiss with one of his own that wasn’t nearly as PG.

“Dre, do you know if there is any wine around?” My dad asked. “Sandra isn’t such a big fan of beer.”

I smiled at the grey haired lady my father had his arm linked with. “I’m on it. I think there is a bottle of red inside.” I ran up the porch and it only took me a minute to find a bottle of wine which had dust on it. I was trying to find a wine opener when I realized that it was a screw cap. “Hopefully Sandra doesn’t mind old cheap red,” I said to myself.

With a beer bottle in hand I turned around and stopped just short of crashing into Bo who had a frown on his face where only moments before he was smiling from ear to ear.

“Hey Bo! What’s the matter?” I asked, crouching down and inspecting him for any play session injuries. He vigorously shook his head from side to side. He looked up at me and his eyes went wide. Sheer terror was written all over his perfect baby face. When I realized it wasn’t me he was looking at, but something over my shoulder, it was already too late.

I was already too late.

A strong hand holding a rag came over my nose and mouth, the other gripping the back of my neck. Before I could even think to fight off whatever or whoever was behind me, my limbs went numb. My brain floated around in my skull. Bo’s frightened image turned blurry, and then sideways as I crashed to the floor.

My heart broke. Bo was scared I couldn’t help him. I couldn’t protect him. Only a few days in and I’d already failed him as his mother. As the blackness claimed me I heard a strangled cry. A beautiful yet painful sound. I drifted off into somewhere unfamiliar, grateful that the last thing I might ever hear was my son’s little voice for the very first time.

Even though he was screaming.

“Mooooooooommmmmmmmy!”

THE END